That’s why—in honor of National Library Week—we are announcing the reintroduction of the ALA Washington Office Newsline, a twice-weekly “vertical file” and email briefing, which we hope will help to make sense of what’s happening in D.C., specifically through the library lens. It will be published Monday and Wednesday afternoon (perfect lunch reading!) and we hope it will be useful to you as a custom-fit “10,000-foot view” of what’s happening for libraries in D.C. Likewise, we know it will be a good line of communication as we move forward with the #SaveIMLS campaign. Sign up to receive the Newsline here.

What are the sources of the news?
Newspapers, RSS feeds, think tanks, government information resources, congressional schedules and websites, blogs (and occasionally Twitter!) as well as trade associations and news organizations. The Washington Office policy experts and lobbyists are reading, meeting with coalition partners, and gathering information inside and outside of D.C. and we want to be able to share it with you.

Are there criteria for the information that is included?
We are the look-out for a wide variety of sources and topics and aim for the content to be either immediately useful or good food for thought. Of course, we are attempting to collect a diversity of viewpoints from credible sources.

What topics can you expect to see covered?
Right now, both OGR and OITP are focused on the #SaveIMLS campaign and reauthorizing LSTA, but we are also keeping a pulse on broadband; copyright; coding and computational thinking; net neutrality; personal privacy; public access to government information; telecommunications resources; open access to research; and federal funding for school libraries and other library programs as well as how libraries help small businesses and veterans and create economic opportunity.

What else should you know about the Newsline?
While this biweekly newsletter will communicate to you what we are reading, watching, and thinking about… it is just one leg of the WO stool. We encourage you to stay tuned here to the District Dispatch (which will continue to provide deep dives and original reporting) and our Legislative Action Center (which you should sign up for right now).

Why should you subscribe to this resource?
If you want to be armed with usable information and help to solve the issues facing libraries, Newsline is essential reading. Also, we hope to keep the conversation going on social media, too, via the hashtag #ALAWO. If you see news we should include or have feedback you would like to share, post and tag.

Some of our “analog” Washington Office newsletters, dating back as far as 1947.

About Emily Wagner

Emily Wagner is the Information Manager for ALA’s Washington Office. She earned her B.A. in Literature from Mount Holyoke College and her M.S.L.I.S. from The Catholic University of America. She can be reached via e-mail at ewagner@alawash.org.